A Melbourne author is going to extreme lengths to get a better understanding of his characters to pen his novels from taking part in military training - which saw him kidnapped and tortured by electrocution - to scaling rooftops in Russia.

Nathan Farrugia, 31, has written three thriller books by drawing from his wild and sometimes unbelievable experiences.

He wrote his first book when he was 10 years old but did not become serious about writing until he completed a stint in the Australian Army and studied film and television.

Melbourne-based Nathan Farrugia, 31, puts himself in life-threatening scenarios to understand his characters

Pictured here scaling rooftops in Russia, Mr Farrugia immerses himself in the worlds of his novels. He has written three thriller books

Farrugia said he was not a 'professional' writer until 2012 when his first book, The Chimera Vector, was published.

Soon The Seraphim Sequence and The Phoenix Variant followed.

As part of his research for these novels and upcoming ones, Farrugia decided to take an escape and evasion course in November 2012 in Texas.

During the week-long course, which is taken by U.S. Navy Seals and Special Forces, the author learned how to escape capture, pick locks, steal a car and how to disguise himself from Tony Mendez - the CIA agent Ben Affleck portrayed in biopic Argo.

At the end of the week, he had to apply the skills he had acquired, except for stealing a car because they still 'had to operate within in law'.

'I was tied up in a motel in Houston in Texas with the heat turned up and Mexican television on in the background,' Farrugia told Daily Mail Australia.

'I was hooded and then waterboarded [a form of torture] and electrocuted - not too much but just enough to experience it - to experience the mental side of it and learning not to panic.'

Part of the course included the use of paper clips and other tools that could be concealed and used to escape captivity

Farrugia said he went on these adventures to be able to get inside of his characters' heads and understand how they would get out of certain situations

In June, Farrugia met someone who took him onto the rooftops of Saint Petersbergt in Russia

Another scenario involved him being taped up, handcuffed and hooded as well as being tied up to two other people on a bed where they had five minutes to escape while concealing paper clips and other tools they could use to free themselves on their bodies.

Farrugia said he went on these adventures to be able to get inside of his characters' heads and understand how they would get out of certain situations.

'My characters are more intelligent and more trained than I am and using skills to outwit each other and that's a major challenge,' he said.

'You can get around that by just looking stuff up but... it only takes you so far.

'It's good to experience all the different things and skills these characters know and put myself in their shoes and learn as much as I can.

The novel writer says you can only get so far by researching scenarios from a computer or office

Two years ago, he met an urban explorer who took him underground to explore New York City's abandoned subway stations

'And it has taken me to some different places and learn very different things.'

More recently in June, Farrugia met a guy who was keen to show him a different view of Saint Petersberg in Russia, but he did not know it would mean risking his life.

'There are official tours where they take to buildings and they are not dangerous at all, whereas he took us all the way up and knew the ones that were unlocked and you could get in,' Farrugia said.

'He took us up fire escapes. They were quite steep and high and they went all the way up, almost to the roof.

'He jumps off them like in parkour movies and we waited for him to open a window for us.

'But he poked his head over the edge and dropped down an electrical cord and said: "Come on up."

'I thought "This could be it" because the cord was not dangling directly over the fire escapes, so if we fell, we would fall to the ground. It was very nerve-wracking.'

Apart from being illegal, the venture was highly dangerous because the subways were still active

Mr Farrugia decsribed the experience as terrifying: 'I hoped he got the timing right. But we got there before the next train came'

But this is not the only close shave, Farrugia has had.

Two years ago, he met an urban explorer who took him underground to explore New York City's abandoned subway stations.

'It's not legal to do this. Another urban explorer popped out of a manhole once and people called police because they thought he was a terrorist,' Farrugia said.

What made it so dangerous was the fact the railway lines, he and the explorer were walking along were still active.

'The tunnels are narrow so there's nowhere to get away from trains,' he said.

'We would climb down from the platform then basically run through the tunnel.

'I was terrified because I hoped he got the timing right. But we got there before the next train came.'

To find out more about Nathan Farrugia and his novels, visit his website.